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illustration, it will appear remarkably striking, that such an inheritance is more generally derived from the maternal than the paternal side. In the examples to be adduced, a selection has been made with a view to the different varieties of

mental superiority, and the following comprehends philosophers, poets, historians, and orators :

LORD BACON.-His mother was daughter to Sir Anthony Cooke; she was skilled in many languages, and translated and wrote several works, which display ed learning, acuteness, and taste.

HUME the historian, mentions his mother, daughter of Sir D. Falconer, President of the College of Justice,, as a woman of "singular merit," and who, although in the prime of life, devoted herself entirely to his education.

R. B. SHERIDAN.-Mrs. Frances Sheridan was a woman of considerable abi

lities. It was writing a pamphlet in his defence, that first introduced her to Mr. Sheridan, afterwards her husband. She also wrote a novel highly praised by

Johnson.

SCHILLER the German poet.-His mother was an amiable woman; she had a strong relish for the beauties of nature, and was passionately fond of music and poetry. Schiller was her favourite child. WILLIAM PITT.-Son of the great

Lord Chatham,

GOETHE thus speaks of his parents :— "I inherited from my father a certain sort of eloquence, calculated to enforce my doctrines to my auditors; from my mother I derived the faculty of represent ing all that the imagination can conceive, with energy and vivacity."

LORD ERSKINE'S mother was a woman of superior talent and discernment; by her advice, her son betook himself to the bar.

THOMSON the poet. - Mrs. Thomson

was a woman of uncommon natural en

dowments, possessed of every social and domestic virtue, with a warmth and vivacity of imagination scarcely inferior to

her son.

BOERHAAVE's mother acquired a knowledge of medicine, not often found in fe

males.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.-His mother, Elizabeth, daughter of D. Rutherford, W. S. was a woman of great accomplishments and virtue. She had a good taste for, and wrote poetry, which appeared in print in 1789.

We might farther mention the mother of Marmontel, of Buonaparte, Sir William Jones, and a host of others. But a sufficient number has been given, we think, to show, that in a great majority

of cases, eminent men have derived their talents from either parent, and that it is a remarkable circumstance, that such inheritance is most generally from the maternal side.

A new and Comprehensive Topographical Dictionary. By JOHN GORTON. Part 1.*

From the skill exercised upon the first part of the work before us, we anticipate that this Dictionary, when completed, will prove a very valuable and instructive book of reference. The descriptions are clear, concise, and ably written, and embrace much novelty in the arrangement.

The population of nearly every place, with the distance and direction of each parish or village from the nearest posttown, and the value of all church livings as they are rated in the King's Book, together with the annual value of those which, according to the last parliamentary return, do not amount to more than £150 worthy of notice, are given with accuracy per ann., with numerous other particulars

A map of the County of Middleif we are to view it as a specimen of those sex accompanies the first number; and that are to follow in succession, we can only say that the County Atlas alone will be worth the entire cost of the book; for we do not know any other map of its size superior either as to drawing or execution.

By way of illustrating the foregoing, to the ancient town of Alnwick, which we pick out a portion of the description contains the following curious practice.

"The custom of making freemen at buted to a piece of humorous revenge on Alnwick, which is very ludicrous, is attrithe part of King John, for having endured considerable personal inconvenience from the miry state of the roads. Those who

are to be made free assemble in the market

place on St. Mark's day, each man dressed in white, with a white cap, and a sword by his side. From this place they proceed on horseback, headed by the four chamberlains, attired in the same manner, to the Town Moor, where they alight, and all rush through a muddy pool, their soiled habiliments, and return to the which ceremony performed, they change

town."

WONDERS OF TARTARY.

The celebrated Venetian traveller Marco Polo, who visited nearly all the countries of the East as early as the thirteenth century, in the narrative of his travels

Chapman and Hall.

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"The people of Thibet were said to be the most skilful necromancers in the world. They could cause tempests to arise, accompanied with flashes of lightning and thunderbolts, and produce many other miraculous effects. In the province of Kaindu, contiguous to Thibet, was a mine of turquoises, and a saltwater lake producing abundance of pearls. The usual money of the country was salt made into little cakes, worth about two-pence each. The hills of all this region were frequented by the musk gazelles in such numbers, that the air was perfumed from them at the distance many miles.

of

"The province of Carazan was infested by crocodiles or alligators, of which our author gives a singularly distorted account. "Here,' he says, · are huge serpents, ten paces long and ten spans wide round the body; at the fore. part, near the head, they have two short legs, having three claws like those of a tiger, with eyes larger than a fourpenny loaf and very glaring; the jaws are wide enough to swallow a man; the teeth are large and very sharp; and their whole appearance is so formidable, that neither man nor any kind of animal can approach them without terror,' Before the inhabitants of Carazan were made subject to the Tartar emperor, they had the custom of murdering every stranger who came among them possessing any superior qualities of mind or body, in hopes that his spirit, endowed with all its intelligence, would remain in the family.

"In the province of Kankandan, both the men and women had the custom of covering their teeth with thin plates of gold; they were also punctured or tattooed on the arms and legs. The practice of gilding the teeth or of dyeing them black, seems to belong properly to the Malay nations. In Kankandan, when a woman was delivered of a child, the husband immediately went to bed, where he remained like an invalid for forty days, receiving the congratulations of his friends and relations. This singular custom was observed also among the Tibareni in the mountains of Armenia."

Anecdotiana.

DR. MASON GOOD.

That excellent and learned physician, and truly estimable man, used to relate

of his, who had at one time occasion to correspond, and who both wrote quite unintelligibly to those not accustomed to their writing. The one was a late Somersetshire baronet, and the other a wellknown medical knight, who is still in the upper air. The latter called on the Doctor one morning, to beg him to read a letter that he had received from the baronet, of which he could not decypher a single word; when Dr. G. put into his hand one of his own, which had come inclosed to him by that morning's post, from the baronet, with a similar request, that he would read it for him, as he could not understand a syllable of it!

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an amusing anecdote of two gentlemen, (TAPSTER and POTBOYS vanish.

not mutually acquainted, but both friends

The ExCISEMAN remains and seizes the Malt Liquor.

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Diary and Chronology.

Saturday, January 9.

Sts. Julian and Basilisissa martyrs. Full Moon 32m after 3.

Jan. 9, 1829.-Died at Dresden of apoplexy, F. Von Schlegel, a German writer of great celebrity, his attainments were of the highest order, and his critical labours in the field of ancient and modern poesy, acquired for him no little fame. It is a remarkable circumstance that the intelligence of his death so deeply afflicted his fellowlabourer and bosom-friend, Adam Von Muller Von Nuterdorf, that he died of grief the day after the tidings reached Vienna. Sunday, January 10.

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.

St. William of Bourges.-Less. for the Day, 44 chap. Isaiah morn.-46 chap. Isaiah even. The historians of our saint report him to have died in the odour of sanctity on the morning of the 10th of January, 1209, having received extreme unction the day before, and being stretched out on ashes, laid in the form of a cross on the hair shirt he generally wore. He was uncle to the celebrated Countess Maud. This mode of dying on ashes, is still preserved in some monasteries. Monday, January 11.

Sts Hyginus, Egwin, and Salvius -High Water im after 3 Morn.-25m after 3 After. Jan. 11, 1689.-Expired on this day T 70, William Chamberlayne, a poet and dramatic author. Of this writer little more is known than that he was a physician of Shaftesbury, in the reign of the first Charles, whose cause he espoused during the civil wars; he was present at the second battle of Newbury, and did good service. Chamberlayne wrote an heroic poem of considerable merit, entitled Pharonnida; and a tragi-comedy, called Love's Victory, printed in 1658, it was after wards acted under the title of Wits Led by the Nose: or, a Poet's Revenge. The heroic poem we have alluded to, is remarkable for the pure strain of feeling and morality that pervades it, and for its richness of imagery, which cannot fail to interest every lover of true poetry. If we may judge from the preface, Chamberlayne appears not to have been favoured by fortune, if he was by genius, for he there complains of the evil sin poverty, besetting him so as to embitter his life.

Tuesday, January 12.

St. Arcadius.-Sun rises 56m after 7-sets 4m after 4.

The saint mentioned to day is said to have suffered martyrdom in the reign of Valerian, though others say in that of Dioclesian, and that it took place in Cæserea.

Wednesday, January 13.

St. Veronica, Virgin.-High Water 14m after 4 Morning-58m after 4 Afternoon. This virgiu saint was a native of Milan in Lombardy, and born of poor parents. In her youth she took the religious habit in the Augustine Convent of St, Martha at Milan, where she behaved with the utmost austerity, and was said to be a living model of the order she had embraced.

Jun 13, 1819.-Died Dr. Wolcott, known to the literary world under the cognomen of Peter Pindar, at the great age of 81. This facetious writer and bitter satirist possessed an original genius, and his mind was well stored with various knowledge. To the time of his dissolution, he retained his faculties unimpaired, and was able to die. tate verses from his bed, which were marked by his former strength and humour.

Thursday, January 14.

St. Felix died 3rd century-sun rises 53m after 7-sets 7m after 4.

Jan. 14, 1794.-Died on this day Dr. Edward Harwood, the eminent dissenting minister. The learned works of this excellent classical scholar are too well known to need comment from us. His Introduction to the Study of the New Testament is a work still highly valued.

Friday, January 15.

St. Paul the First Hermit,-High Water 15m after 5 morn-31m after 5 After.
For an account of this Saint see our first volume.

Jan. 15, 1776.-Birth-day of his Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester.

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth took place on this day at Westminster. Lord Burleigh thus speaks of the maiden Queen, his Royal Mistress :-" There was never soe wise a woman borne, for all respects, as Queene Elizabeth; for she spake and understoode all languages, knewe all estates and dispositions of all princes, and was so experte in her owne, as noe counseller she had could tell her that she knew not. She had soe rare gifts, as when her council had said all they cold, she wold finde out a wise counsel beyond all theirs; and thus she shewed her wisdome and care of her country, for there never was anie great consultation, but she wold be present there herself, to her great profit and praise. Saturday January 16.

St Marcellus pope and mar. A D. 310 —Sun rises 51m after 7-sets 9m after 4. Jan. 1, 1826.-Expired on this day the American philologist, Lindley Murray, author of the English Grammar, and other works. His grammar has passed through numerous editions, has been much approved, and extensively adopted, Sunday, January 17.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.

Lessons for the Day-51 c. Isaiah morn.-53 c. Isaiah even.

Vols 1, 2, 3, & 4 of this Work, embellished with 120 fine Engravings, containing nearly 3,000 articles upon interesting subjects and the most extensive collection of original Tales snd Romances, may be had together or separate. Price of the 4 Vols, Extra Bds, £1 10s.

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Flustrated Article.

THE AMBUSCADE;

OR,

THE ASTROLOGER'S PREDICTION.

A TALE OF THE LOW COUNTRIES.

By J. Y. A-n.

For the Olio.

Trewly some men there be

That lyue alwayes in greate horroure,
And say it goth by destyne;

To hang or wed, both hath one houre-
THE SCOLE HOWSE.

"WE shall not reach Leyden before sunrise," said Frank Marberoll to his friend and companion, as they rode at the head of their little troop of pistoliers. "We are full six leagues from the city, and if the Spaniard be out, we may have sharp work on't. I would that our march was ended, for these roads are not to my liking."

"This is somewhat strange language for one of your mettle, my good friend," remarked his companion; "there was a 3-VOL. V.

C

time when you would have courted such an expedition."

"You say truly, good Eyland; but I have forebodings that this night will be fatal to some of us."

"Pshaw! a childish fear; what has put these strange fantasies into your head, Frank?"

"Peace, good Will," replied the other, "thou knowest not the cause; look up to the sky above us; seest thou yon little star to the right of that bright twinkler over that ruin ?"

"I do; what of it?" "It glows like a comet; it foretells approaching evil to me. Eyland smiled.

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Nay, laugh not; I will tell you the strange story, and you will then pity what you may be pleased to call my weakness. Know that some five years since, I was drinking in a tavern at Paris, with several wild gallants of my own age, when one of them proposed a visit to an ancient man who dwelt in the Fauxbourg St. Denis. Having grown merry over our host's wine, we determined to finish the evening by repairing to the house of the Astrologer,

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whom we roused from his slumbers at that late hour. He satisfied us by reply ing to the several questions put to him, with great shrewdness and sagacity, and we departed, having amply remunerated him for his trouble. After parting with my companions, I proceeded to my hotel, but the firm and impressive manner of this old man had created in me an irresistible desire to know something more of one whose demeanour evidently showed him to be of a superior cast.

"On the following morning, as the clock of a neighbouring church struck eight, I rapped at the old man's door, and was instantly admitted into an apartment furnished somewhat fantastically, but yet with every regard to comfort and convenience. A row of shelves occupied one side of the room, and on it were ranged a multitude of books in all languages, whose broad backs and raised bands proclaimed their origin. Among them I counted those written by the famous Nostradamus; the huge tomes containing the labours of Ptolemy and Albertus Magnus, and the subtle treatises of Cornelius Agrippa. The figure of him who occupied the apartment

was in every respect calculated to inspire the beholder with a veneration mingled with awe. A black velvet cap pressed to his temples a few white and straggling locks with which his pale cheeks held rivalry, and a long beard, outvying in colour the snows of the Jungfrau, descended to the richly wrought girdle which confined his sombre-coloured gauberdine at the waist. I was about to address the venerable old man, when he interrupted me, and in a deep and sonorous voice, said,

"My son, I well know the business that brings thee hither. Good or ill, thou would'st know what fortune has in store for thee.'

"I would,' said I, putting a gold ducat on the table.

"Then come to me at the hour of eight to-morrow evening; I will then unfold to thee that which thou would'st know; but first leave me your name and age.'

"I complied with this request, and quitting the house, hastened to my lodgings. You may suppose that I waited anxiously for the appointed time. On the following

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