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sieur Crigny, Monsieur et Madame Rotrou, Messieurs et Mesdames Lanjay de Crouilly et Charny, Monsieur et Madame Flarton, Madame veuve Ledroux, Madame et Monsieur Leclerc, ont l'honneur de vous faire part de la perte qu'ils viennent de faire de Monsieur Joseph Pontet, ancien Maire du dissement, ancien négociant, ancien juge, consul, Chevalier de l'Ordre Royal de la Légion d'Honneur, leur mari, père, grand-père, beau-père, frère, oncle, et grand oncle, decédé le 35 Juin, en sa maison Rue Neuve St. Pierre, No. 23, daus sa soixante-quatorzième année. New Mon. Mag.

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THE young author of the poems entitled, The Omnipresence of the Deity, A Universal Prayer, &c. &c. has put forth another volume, under the above title, which bids fair to be as popular as those which have preceded it. were at all disposed to cavil with the plan of this poem, we should say that Satan has been made too philosophical; that such reflections could only occupy the mind of one who thought and felt as the creatures of earth, and not as a being doomed to behold fair scenes, and witness happiness from which he is for ever excluded: but this is one of the licences that poetry enjoys, and we are free to confess that it has afforded an opportunity of introducing many highly imaginative and powerful scenes.

We think there is much to admire in the glance at the terrors of the French Revolution, contained in the following

lines:

Once, France and Freedom were a mingled

name;

And now, when all their wrathful clouds are roll'd

Away, the shadows which they cast, endure, Clothing the soul of Memory with fear.Her Revolution, who that saw, forgets ?

Or who that felt, and does not feel ?-The storm

That makes a midnight of convulsed day,
Is weak, to that rebellion of despair,
When buried passions, like an earthquake,
burst

From out an injured Nation's heart! And such

Was thine, afflicted France! the far-off thrones
Of tyrants stagger'd, distant empires quail'd,
When like th' embodied spirit of thy wrongs
The Revolution darken'd on the world.-
Ringing a peal that echoed Europe round,
And died in thunder o'er the Atlantic deep!-
But thou wert too unholy to be free,
Too grasping to be great; and when thy thirst
For havoc brutalized the scene of blood,-
As though re-action for all human wrong

Samuel Maunder.

Were centred in it for one dire revenge,
The cry of Freedom, for the voice of Hell !—
I heard Heaven curse thee, and exulting hail'd

The poet's love of his native land is shewn in these lines :

England is blest in all that Nature lends : No fields spread greener magic to the gaze, No streams of purer freshness flow, no winds Than hers: and though invading Splendor In richer harmony their wings unfold,

frown

A stately contrast o'er a ruined scene;
Though petty tyrant, and domestic lord,
That elevating charm have long eclipsed
Of happy peasantry, with honest hearts
For country glowing, and for God prepared;
Though wither'd all that pastoral poets sang,
Enough for homage, or refreshing thought,
Doth consecrate her yet. And thus, methinks,
Sweet Country might imparadise my soul
Of fine perceptions and delightsome moods,
Grey towers, and streets all surfeited with
throngs

Of worldlings, greedy-eyed, and stale of heart, As the dead air around them,-who should deem

Enchantment, while a lovelier world is free?
From dusky cities, where forced Nature grieves
To wear the meanness of surrounding men,
On wings of gladness might her lovers fly
To haunts divine as these. Lo! how she laughs
In sunshine, tinting with her bright romance
Hill, wood, and valley, rock and wayward

stream;

What blue deliciousness of arched sky!
What flow'ry hues, what odorous delights,
And, as her gales in sounding glory come,
What ocean-mock'ry from her voiceful trees
Is heard, in rapture echoing the winds!-

The English press is thus characterized: of course, our author's severe animadversions can only apply to a portion :—

The Press of England, from her deadless That mighty lever that has moved the world,

source

Of living action, here begins to shake
The far-off isles, and awe the utmost globe!
She is a passion, pour'd into mankind,

Dark, deep, and silent oft, but ever felt;
Mixed with the mind, and feeding with a food
Of thought, the moral being of a soul;
Or, shaping solemn destinies for Time,
And dread Eternity. Terrific Power!
Thou mightst have half annihilated Hell,
And her great denizens, by glorious sway:
But now, so false, so abject, and so foul
Become,-no blasting Pestilence e'er shed
Such ruin from her tainted wings, as thou
May'st carry in thy circulating floods

Of thought and feeling, into human hearts.
One wrecks the body,-thou dost havoc souls,
And who shall heal them? Let thy temples

rise,

Britannia!-they are but satiric piles
Of sanctity, while poison in thy press
Is pour'd, and on its lying magic live
Thy thousand vulgar, who heart - famish'd

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for many years past; indeed it is a noble exertion of genius. We shall, if possible, enrich our pages with some further selections in a future number.

ASTRONOMY.

MR. WALLIS'S LECTURES AT THE MECHA-
NICS' INSTITUTE.

For the Olio.

The more science is divested of tech nicalities and is simplified to the plainest understanding, it acquires greater popularity. For this we admire especially the manner in which lectures are delivered at the Mechanics Institute,' they are always practical and demonstrated by diagrams and transparencies, fixing the subjects elucidated in the memory, so as to be recalled and useful for reflection or impartation. If Mr. Wallis have not brought forward any thing new in the science of Astronomy, he has succeeded admirably, by establishing the Newtonian hypothesis in our minds; at least, by his clear and convincing knowledge of the links which connect terrestrial and celestial phenomena, their gravities, phases, and attractions. By the regular method which Mr. W. adopted in this course, and the intimate acquaintance which he displayed even in the most intricate parts of the science, his labour has been of much service to those mechanics who seek to be improved rather than employ their evenings in waste and riot. We were much pleased by the expensive and ingenious apparatus which Mr. W. used in the lectures. The rotatory transparencies relative to the solar system and the mathematical diagrams to establish positions and enforce the views of the lecturer, were such as to delight and improve the juvenile part of the auditory and refresh the minds of the more mature patrons of the Institute, which are now receiving new information from the valuable and gratuitous labours of Mr. Buckingham on the Geography of the East.'

Customs of Warious Countries.

FESTIVALS IN TIBET.

A very curious work upon Tibet, by a Chinese author and civil functionary of the Celestial Empire, resident in that country, has recently been brought to Europe by Father Hyacinth, chief of the Russian mission to Peking. It has been rendered into that language and also into French; from the latter translation we obtain the following.

"During the first three days of the year, the Tibetan traders cease their transactions. At this period the people send presents to each other, consisting of tea, wines, fruit, and eatibles. On the second day, the Dalaïlama gives a feast at Botala, to which he invites the Chinese and Tibetan dignitaries, and a warlike dance is performed with battle-axes and halberds. For this purpose ten boys are selected, who dress themselves in partycoloured garments; they have little bells attached to their feet, and hold axes and halberds in their hands. Before them are arranged in a line ten kettle-drums, the drummers in the same costume as the dancers. The latter commence their performance the instant wine is offered to the guests; motion and rest, the swiftness and slowness of their gestures, are regulated by the strokes on the drums. These pastimes appear to be no more than the relics of our Chinese dances and pantomimes. On the succeeding day is exhi bited the Play of the Fluttering Spirits," for which they procure people from the neighbouring province of Zang, (one of the Tibetan provinces.) A rope of leather is conducted from the temple of Botala to the foot of the mountain upon which it is situated; the performers ascend and descend along this rope; they grasp it and move up it with great agility, like monkeys. When they reach the top of the mountain, they cover their chests with a kind of breast-plate of deer-skin, and extending their arms and legs, let themselves glide along to the end of the rope with the rapidity of an arrow shot with force, or of a swallow which skims with its wings the surface of the water; this is a most curious sight. After this festival, the day is fixed on which the lamas of all the convents situated in the mountains are to assemble at the H'lasseï-tsioh-khang, or great temple at H'lassa. They assemble to meet the Dalaï-lama, who takes his seat upon an elevated bench, and explains the law. The inhabitants of the most remote parts of Tibet crowd. to H'lassa on this occasion, so that all the roads are covered with praying men. When they come into the presence of the Dalaï-lama, they place on their head gold, pearls, and other precious articles, which they offer to him on their knees. If the grand lama accepts the offerings, he passes a fan or lays his hand three times over the head of the giver. Those who have been thus received, retire full of enthu siasm, felicitating themselves in the presence of the rest on having happiness thus heaped upon them by the living divinity.

On the 15th of the first moon, the

interior of the temple at H'lassa is illuminated; several rows of scaffolding are erected, whereon are placed an innumerable quantity of lanthorns, adorned with coloured figures of men, dragons, serpents, birds, and quadrupeds, the whole very skilfully executed in a paste made of farina and oil. This illumination lasts from night till sunrise next morning. During the night, observations are carefully made whether the sky is serene or cloudy, whether rain or snow falls, whether the light of the lanthorns is bright or dull; according to these indications, they prognosticate whether the coming year will be barren or fruitful.

"On the 18th a review of troops takes place. Three thousand men, infantry and Tangout cavalry, in their military uniforms, and fully armed, make a circuit of the temple three times; when they reach the southern extremity of the bridge of varnished tiles, they commence firing cannons to drive away the demons. These cannons are not all of the same size. Upon the largest, cast in the Tang dynasty,* are engraved in Chinese characracters, I menace traitors with death, and rebels with destruction. At the close of this review, gold, silver, stuffs, and tea, from the public treasury, are distributed as rewards amongst the soldiery; and 360 ounces of silver are given to the priests who perform service, for their annual subsistence. Two or four days afterwards, the kalons, the deibons, and the lamas, bring little boys, who mount on horseback, and gallop all the way between the temple of Mount Sera to beyond Botala, a distance of about thirty li; a prize is awarded to him who first. arrives at the appointed spot. There are other little boys, quite naked, without even shoes, who start at the same time from the western side of Botala, and run towards the east in the direction of H'lassa, a distance of about ten li. He who gets before the others, and reaches the goal first, receives a prize. If, during the race, one of the boys happens to become exhausted, his relatives and friends, who form a kind of lane to look at the runners, hasten towards him, and relieve his fatigue by pouring cold water upon his head."

A curious scene takes place in the second moon of the year, which may be compared with some of our early myste ries in Europe; it is a representation of the expulsion of the prince of the devils. A lama is selected to perform the part of

*It hence appears that cannons were in use in China as early as the seventh century.— Klaproth,

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the Dalaï-lama, and a lay-person to en-
act the prince of the devils, or Logung-
ghiaboo, as he is called. His costume is
as follows: his left cheek is bedaubed
with white, and the right with black; he
has a pair of immense green ears, his hat
is surmounted with a small flag, in his
left hand he holds a sort of stick, and in
his right a cow's tail. This outlandish
figure advances towards the pretended
Dalai-lama, who is placed on a high seat,
with his lamas on each side, and after
sundry astonishing leaps, says to him,
contemptuously, "what is perceivable by
the five sources of intelligence is not illu-
sory; what you teach is not true.' A
dispute takes place between the devil and
the human deity, which they agree to de-
cide by casting dice. The Dalai-lama
throws his die upon a silver plate, the
devil throws his on the ground. It may
be easily imagined which loses; the Da-
laï-lama's die has six on each of its faces;
the devil's die has but the ace. The
prince of the devils thereupon takes flight
immediately, and the, lamas, assisted
by the people, pursue him with bows
and arrows, muskets, and cannon.
actor of the devil, who is hired for the
purpose, is obliged to conceal himself in
the mountains, where he finds a store of
provisions for several months, and he
must not quit his hiding-place for some
time.

The

Another odd ceremony takes place in the third moon. On the day of the discovery of treasure, as it is called, plate and precious vases are set out in the temple at H'lassa; they also hang up images of the great Buddhas in the temple. The lamas disguise themselves in the costume of good and bad genii; the people of Tibet dress themselves up like tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, elephants, and other beasts; and they circumambulate the temple, saluting the great image of Buddha, dancing and singing.

On the last day of the year, there take place, in one of the mountains of H'lassa, sacred pantomimes, together with the expulsion of the devils. On this occasion, quacks and conjurors tell fortunes by chiromancy and physiognomy; both women and men, in holiday dresses, assemble in crowds, singing and drinking together till they are all fuddled; and thus ends the year amongst the Buddhists of Tibet.

Asiatic Jour.

He who boldly interposes between a merciless censor and his prey, is a man of vigour; and he who, mildly wise, without wounding, convinces him of his error, commands our veneration.

The Note Book:

The Biographical and Retrospective
Miscellany, No. 1.-John Wilson,
Great May's Buildings, St. Martin's
Lane.

The appearance of this work must be highly gratifying to the literary world. Its plan is excellent, and we confidently predict it success. It purposes to give extracts from rare and curious books in all languages; original papers, illustrative of the History and Antiqnities of Great Britain and Ireland; abstracts from valuable MSS.; unpublished autograph letters of eminent characters; and notices of all the book sales both here and on the continent.

Having given the bill of fare, we consider that it will hardly be necessary to recommend the work to our readers. In the next number is promised the first part of a Catalogue of the various Romances and poems supposed to have formed the celebrated library which turned the head of the Knight of La Mancha ! .

Want of space allows of our making one extract only, and that is the

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MANNER OF HOLDING THE KING'S
BIRTH-DAY.

Post Office was also distinguished by its lights; at six, the great bells took place, so that the night ended (as the day had begun) joyfully. There was a bonfire at the Abbey Court, and another in the Castle, where Major John Robertson entertained, at his own expense, several gentlemen and ladies, in honour of the day, and the Garrison with plenty of punch and good beer. There was likewise a small bonfire on Arthur's Seat, and the Commissioners of the Excise had another in the Court of their Office."

THE HOUSE CRICKET.

This little inmate of our dwelling "is well known for its habit of picking out the mortar of ovens and kitchen fire places, where it not only enjoys warmth, but can procure abundance of food. It is usually supposed that it feeds on bread. M. Latreille says it only eats insects, and it certainly thrives well in houses infested by the cockroach; but we have also known it eat and destroy lamb's-wool stockings, and other woollen stuffs, hung near a fire to dry. It is evidently not fond of hard labour, but prefers those places where the mortar is already loosened, or at least is new, soft, and easily scooped Edinburgh, Nov. 1, 1734.-Wed- out; and in this way it will dig covert nesday last being the anniversary of his ways from room to room. In summer, Majesty's Birth, the loyalty of this city crickets often make excursions from the seemed even to anticipate the day; for, house to the neighbouring fields, and very early the cross was nicely dress'd, dwell in the crevices of rubbish, or the and hard by, a Theatre erected; at seven cracks made in the ground by dry weather, o'clock the Flag was displayed on the where they chirp as merrily as in the Castle; at ten the Musick Bells began, snuggest chimney corner. Whether which, with most curious Water-works, they ever dig retreats in such circumentertained the City the day long. At stances, we have not ascertained; though noon the Castle fired a round of cannon, it is not improbable they may do so for which was returned by three volleys from the purpose of making nests. M. Bory Col. Middleton's regiment in the Abbey St. Vincent tells us, that the Spaniards court. At three o'clock the Rt. Hon. the are so fond of crickets that they keep them Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Town in cages like singing birds.” Council, in their robes, preceeded by the City-Officer, the Musick, and the Regalia, attended by the Nobility, Lords of Session, Comms. of Revenue, Brigadier General Moyle, the Officers of Col. Middleton's Regiment, the Officers of the Trained Bands, &c., march'd in Procession from the Council Chamber to the Theatre, where the Royal Healths were drank, at each a volley from the City Guard, while fruits, sweetmeats, &c., were thrown among the populace. In the same good order they return'd, the City Guard (all new cloath'd) closing the Procession, where the Royal Healths were repeated, and several other suitable ones; at each a volley of small arms. After four the streets were curiously illuminate, but in a particular manner the Windows of my Lord Provost's Lodgings; the General

Lib. of Enter. Know.

CATERPILLARS.

66

These insects, as they increase in size, cast their skins as lobsters do their shells, and emerge into renewed_activity under an enlarged covering. Previous to this change, when the skin begins to gird and pinch them, they may be observed to become languid, and indifferent to their food, and at length they cease to eat, and await the sloughing of their skin. It is now that the faculty of spinning silk seems to be of great advantage to them; for being rendered inactive and helpless by the tightening of the old skin around their expanding body, they might be swept away by the first puff of wind, and made prey of by ground beetles or other carnivorous prowlers. To guard against

such accidents, as soon as they feel that they can swallow no more food from being half chocked by the old skin, they take care to secure themselves from danger by moorings of silk spun upon the leaf or the branch where they may be reposing." Ib.

SILK AND SILK WORMS.

We transfer to our pages the following interesting particulars from Part VII. of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge. The intelligent author of the work before us, in his account of the silkworm, says: "When we consider the enormous quantity of silk which is used at present, the number of worms employed in producing it will almost exceed our comprehension. The manufacture of the silk, indeed, gives employment, and furnishes subsistence, to several millions of human beings; and we may venture to say, that there is scarcely an individual in the civilized world who has not some article of silk in his possession.

"In ancient times, the manufacture of silk was confined to the East Indies and China, where the insects that produce it are indigenous. It was thence brought to Europe in small quantities, and in early times sold at so extravagant a price, that it was deemed expensive even for royalty. The Emperor Aurelian assigned the expense as a reason for refusing his empress a robe of silk; and our own James I., before his accession to the crown of England, had to borrow of the Earl of Mar a pair of silk stockings, to appear in before the English ambassador,-a circumstance which probably led him to promote the cultivation of silk in England. The Roman authors were altogether ignorant of its origin, some supposing it to be grown on trees, as hair grows on animals, -others that it was produced by a shellfish similar to the mussel, which is known to throw out threads for the purpose of attaching itself to rocks, others that it was the entrails of a sort of spider, which was fed for four years with paste, and then with the leaves of the green willow, till it burst with fat,-and others that it was the produce of a worm which built nests of clay and collected wax. The insect was at length spread into Persia; and eggs were afterwards, at the instance of the Emperor Justinian, concealed in hollow canes by two monks, and conveyed to the isle of Cos. This emperor, in the sixth century, caused them to be introduced into Constantinople, and made an object of public utility. They were thence successively cultivated in Greece, in Spain, in Italy, in France, and in all places where any hope could be indulged of their succeeding. In America, the

culture of the silk-worm was introduced into Virginia in the time of James I., who himself composed a book of instructions on the subject, and caused mulberry-trees and silk-worms' eggs to be sent to the colony. In Georgia, also, lands were granted on condition of planting 100 white mulberry-trees on every ten acres of cleared land.

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"The growth of the silk-worm has also been tried, but with no great success, in this country. Evelyn computed that one mulberry-tree would feed as many silkworms annually as would produce seven pounds of silk. According to that estimate,' says Barham, the 2000 trees already planted in Chelsea Park (which take up one-third of it) will make 14,000 lbs. weight of silk; to be commonly worth but 20s. a pound, those trees must make £14,000 per annum.' During the last century, some French refugees in the south of Ireland made considerable plantations of the mulberry, and had begun the cultivation of silk with every appearance of success, but since their removal the trees have been cut down. In the vicinity of London, also, a considerable plantation of mulberry-trees were purchased by the British, Irish, and Colonial Silk Company in 1825; but we have not learned whether this Company have any active measures now in operation.

"The manufacture of silk was introduced into this country in 1718, at Derby, by Mr. John Lombe, who travelled into Italy to obtain the requisite information; but so jealous were the Italians of this, that, according to some statements which have obtained belief, he fell a victim to their revenge, having been poisoned at the early age of 29."

PROFESSOR LESLIE.

John Leslie, professor of natural philosophy, like the Ettrick Shepherd, is of low origin; in his younger days he was a poor cowherd, but in this alone does the resemblance consist-their pursuits, their persons, and the natural bent of their talents, all widely differ; the Professor is short and stout, with exceedingly coarse unmeaning features-no intellectual expression to be discovered in them, no, not even when a smile pervades his features, in fact it only heightens their animal character, so that, from their general appearance, all you could suppose to result from him would be the hideous excrescences of a swampy brain; he is a professed atheist; and, in asserting which, there can be no impropriety, as his appointment to the chair in the University caused much discussion in the General Assembly on that very score,

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