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GYMNASIA.

(Continued from page 532.)

No. XXII.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR,-This feat must be performed with a much longer backed chair than those now in fashion; the back ought to be about a yard high from the seat. Place the chair on the floor, in the position indicated by the figure; place the knees on the extremity of the feet of the chair, and place your two hands on or about the seat rail, and bring your face down to touch the back of the chair, upon which, at the extremity, or as near it as you can come, without falling forwards, or suffering the top of the chair to touch the floor, a piece of money, &c. is placed, which is to be removed with the mouth.

You may, instead of money, put an upright pin into the chair back, at any distance, changing its position until you have ascertained the furthest point at which you can take it back with your mouth, without yourself or the chair falling forwards. Although the situation of the hands is indicated in the figure, you may shift them to any other

position which enables you to reach the furthest with safety Much of the management in this trick depends upon properly regulating the position of the hands.

No. XXIII.

We lately introduced to our readers a singular experiment, to prove that it is difficult, if not impossible, by force, to separate the two hands of any person holding them in a particular manner; which will be best understood by refer ing to page 400.

Let the two clenched hands be placed in contact with each other, as shown in the figure, with the two thumbs together, the nails upwards, and the fingers pressed as closely together as possible. When in this position, the two hands. may be easily separated, by means which appear altogether incompetent to effect such a purpose. The person whose hands are joined, as in the sketch, we shall call A, and the other, who undertakes to separate them, B. B stands opposite A, (vis-a-vis), B, with the forefinger of his right hand, gives a smart stroke on the upper side of the knuckle of the forefinger of A's left hand; at the same moment B with the forefinger of his left hand, strikes the under side of A's right hand. This simple stroke of the two forefingers of B made at the same moment will drive A's hands asunder the right hand flying upwards, and his left downwards. A child, by this means, may separate the clenched hands of a grown-up person.

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Let a person place a peck measure, rundlet, small keg, or, in fact, any thing round on its side, and sit upon it lengthways; then procure a staff of proper length, a broom handle for instance, one end of which he is to rest upon his left shoulder, the other upon the floor, at the same time crossing the legs over it, as in the sketch; then, with a lighted candle in one hand, the problem is to light an unlit one held in the other, observing to keep the hands and arms perfectly free from the staff. The apparent ease with which it is supposed this can be accomplished, is only to be equalled by the real difficulty of performing it.

(To be concluded in our next.)

LINES,

ON READING IN THE NEWSPAPERS THAT DON MIGUEL HAD BROKEN

HIS LEG.

The bigot Miguel, they say,

His royal leg broke t'other day;

Some wish that it had been his neck,
As that had kept the knave in check;
But I say no!-thank Heaven, the wretch
Has still a neck left for Jack Ketch.

CANNING'S HISTORY OF HIMSELF.

[WRITTEN IN APRIL, 1822.]

My name is Canning; on the Thespian boards
My mother play'd her part-a thrifty dame,
Whose only care was to increase her store,
And teach her hopeful son the "Rule of Three."
But I had heard of sinecures, and long'd
To follow in the track that leads to Court-
And Heav'n soon granted what I so desir'd:
The Gallic sun rose from chaotic night,
And by its blaze, a horde of Sans Culottes
Rush'd, like a torrent, o'er the affrighted world-
Threat'ning all crown'd heads-The Courier wrote
The Jacobins to succourt-I, on place
Intent,-wrote, in the Anti-Jacobin,

Philippics against France-and Pitt soon mark'd
The squibs I penn'd, and rank'd me with his friends,
A chosen band of needy, hungry placemen,

In fortune all advancing. This life I led

Until at Waterloo we met the foe:

We fought and conquer'd—thank our lucky stars,
The loitering Grouchy seal'd the fate of Nap,
Who wore that day the crown fat Louis wears.
Exulting in our triumph, I disdain'd
A rhyming punster's life; and having heard
That Lusitania's King, call'd by his peers,
His course was bending to the Tagus side,
I left my native land and took with me

The sum of fourteen thousand pounds a year.
The King came not; but what cared I for that?

I ate and drank, and then came back again;

And, Heaven be prais'd, have liv'd to see the day
When India hails me as her Governor!

The Rule of Three is of especial use to all courtiers, as enabling them to calculate the connexion between principal and interest, as thus:-Mr. Canning, at one period of his life, was on the point of joining the Whig party, and we have the authority of a very celebrated writer for the fact, that just before the breaking up of the last Administration, he was in actual treaty with the Whigs for a place:-"Had they survived twentyfour hours longer, he would now, (says the writer,) have been declaiming against the cry of No Popery,' instead of inflaming it." Now, we will suppose the writer we have just quoted to have been in error, and that Mr. Canning, who is a Whig at heart, declined coming in under the Whigs, for some valuable and perspective consideration,-a Lisbon job, for instance,-then the Rule of Three would be resorted to, to solve this question :→ If, by a partial surrender of my principles, say one-third of the total, I obtain £14,000 a year, how much will an entire surrender of those principles produce?" Dividing the whole of Mr. Canning's political integrity into three parts, the question, according to Cocker, may be thus stated,--As one-third is to fourteen thousand, so are three-thirds to forty-two thousand: which sum we presume to be about the annual value of the Governorship of India; not visible on the books, perhaps, but "tangible" in the pocket +"Couriers and Stars, sedition's Evening Post,

Thou Morning Chronicle and Morning Post."-Satire by Geo. Canning, Esq. The consequences of Grouchy's neglect to follow the plans laid down by Napoleon, and of his tardiness in coming up at the appointed time, are well known.

THE MAGIC GLOBE, OR THE BOTTLE IMP.

(Concluded from page 564.)

CHAP. XXIV.

The Assembly-Importance of the Maitre de Danse-Anecdote of Vestris-Public Homage done to Voltaire-Farinelli -A Peep into the Ball-room-The Coquet and her two Gallants-A gay Lothario-A Contrast-Asylum for the Houseless Poor-The Victim of Seduction.

What an incessant clatter those confounded coach wheels make to-night, (said Ferdinand, laying down a volume he had been reading as Asmodeus entered.) What can possibly occasion such an unusual bustle?"

"Have you forgotten that this is the night of your annual Charity Ball?" said Asmodeus.

"That had, indeed, escaped my memory, (replied Ferdinand,) or I should have been less out of humour than I have been for the last hour with the incessant din of the carriages. The object of this annual ball is so commendable, that, unaccustomed as I have been of late to sport the light fantastic toe, I should have been tempted to make one of the party this evening had I thought of it a little earlier. By your aid, however, my good friend, we can at least take a peep at the company."

"With all my heart (said Asmodeus.) You know I am quite in my element in the ball-room. As I told your respected ancestor, Don Cleofas, whose portrait graces your mantel-piece, "Je suis l'inventeur des carousels, de la danse, de la musique, et de la comedie.* If I cannot boast of being the greatest benefactor of mankind that ever laid claim to

Diable Boiteux.

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